Historical Mystery – Page 160 – Flippin' Pages Book Reviews

Treacherous Is the Night by Anna Lee Huber

Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Verity Kent #2
Publication Date: 9/25/18

This is a captivating, suspenseful and beautifully written tale set in the aftermath of WWI. It moves quickly and is filled with twists and turns. There is so much rich period detail that is so well done that you feel as if you are there. This author does a lot of research and I always learn something new when I read her work. The characters are so well written that you would like to introduce yourself and make them your friend. I particularly like Max and can’t wait for him to get his HEA. Once I began my read, I couldn’t put it down!

If you read the first book in the series, This Side of Murder, you saw Verity’s reaction to a séance. So, just imagine her reaction when her best friend, Daphne, asks her to attend a séance with her. Verity did her best to decline the request, but Daphne is a very persuasive lady, and Verity ends up at the séance. Two big surprises await her there – (1) is the fact that Max is attending with his aunt and (2) the medium ‘channels’ one of Verity’s contacts from her days as an operative during the war. Verity doesn’t believe for a minute that the reading is true, but how could that medium possibly know about Emelie. Verity is very shaken when she leaves the séance – and even more shaken when she returns to the medium’s home the next morning to find the house burning and the medium dead.

Verity immediately begins to dig into the matter and finds a trail of breadcrumbs. As she and Sidney follow them, the danger increases. They leave England and head across the channel to some of the more horrific scenes of the war – and to the areas where Verity spent a lot of time acting for the crown. The crumbs are sparse and it takes Verity a lot of effort to follow them and find the solution to the mystery – and the madman at the end of the journey.

With the backdrop of the mystery and its solution, Verity and Sidney are still trying to figure out how to make their marriage work. Their fifth anniversary is approaching, but they’ve not spent more than a couple of months of that time together. Sidney was shipped off the war three days after they married and he had very few leaves where he could come home. Then, the unthinkable happened – Sidney died – and Verity went into deep, deep mourning for him. She didn’t care whether she lived or died and she took some big risks – some of them in her spying. She is keeping secrets from Sidney and until they clear the air, they’ll never come together. She’s afraid he’ll hate her if she tells him all. So, it is really nice to see them forgive each other and get back to that love you just knew they always had for each other. Although – I still think Sidney got off a bit easy for what he put her through. All in all, I loved the character development between Verity and Sidney and Verity’s struggle with reconciling her wartime work and settling into a normal life.

I loved the mystery with Emelie because it was really well done and kept me guessing until the end. There are just so many things that I loved about this book that there is no way I can mention all of them here. I can say, however, if you want to be thoroughly entertained and learn something in the process, this book is for you! I can hardly wait for their next adventure!

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“I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”

Dark Tide Rising by Anne Perry

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: William Monk #24
Publication Date: 9/18/18

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

This mystery was filled with twists, turns, betrayals, and gruesome murders. The writing is excellent, as always, but the story seemed to drag a bit at times with repetitions of various aspects of the story. I enjoyed the story, but I missed the old Monk, this one seemed a bit old, tired and melancholy and not nearly as sharp as he used to be. I really love the stories when Hester and Scuff help Monk, but this time Scuff didn’t get more than an honorable mention and Hester’s input was to be home cooking dinner when Monk finally arrived home. From Monk’s demeanor throughout the entire book, it would not have surprised me to read Monk’s announcement that he was retiring and moving to the Cotswolds at the end of the book.

Sir Oliver Rathbone is an attorney and a good friend to William Monk – probably his best friend. When Rathbone arrives at Monk’s house one evening and tells him the story of Harry Exeter and his missing wife, Kate, Monk immediately agrees to help. Kate has been kidnapped and the kidnappers have demanded a huge ransom to be delivered to a very dangerous place – Jacob’s Island. Jacob’s Island is not really an island, but a place that the river is reclaiming – it is filled with buildings that are being sucked down into the mud and muck of the river and pathways are constantly changing as walls collapse, etc. Exeter asks Monk and the River Police to help him drop the ransom because he has no idea how to get through the island to the drop point. Monk immediately identifies with Exeter’s terror for his wife because Monk’s wife Hester was once kidnapped.

Kate Exeter was out for a walk with her cousin, Celia Darwin, who is also her best friend. They are having a lovely walk along the shore of the river when Kate is approached by a gentleman Celia doesn’t know. Celia doesn’t want to seem to be eavesdropping on the conversation, so she moves away slightly – then a group of people walks between them – and then – Kate is gone.

Monk, Exeter and five of Monk’s best River Policemen plan to deliver the ransom – exactly according to the instructions. Exeter is adamant – he doesn’t care about the money, he wants his wife back. Then, everything goes horribly, horribly wrong. The team is attacked and Kate is viciously murdered. What happened? They were doing exactly as asked – why murder Kate? Is there a traitor among the team who provided details of their movements to the kidnappers? Monk absolutely can’t believe that – but it must be true – how else would the kidnappers have known where each one of the team was stationed? Add two more murders into the mix and you have a really dastardly villain.

I was sure about who the villain was early on, but I also knew the author would throw some kinks into the story to make me doubt myself. There were a number of leads to follow and a few red herrings along the way. I loved that Runcorn took on a part of the investigation, but hated that he was more astute and less wrung out than Monk was.

The end seemed a little contrived and a bit abrupt, but finally, justice was served.

“I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”

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